medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Gregory of Narek (d. early 11th cent.). The Armenian Gregory (in Armenian, Grigor Narekatsi; often simply Narek) was born ca. 950. The son of a bishop, he was educated by an older male relative who was the head of a monastery at the village of Narek on the shore of Lake Van in what is now southeastern Turkey. Gregory spent most of his life at Narek, where he wrote both a mystical commentary on the Armenian version of the Song of Songs and a great deal of religious poetry that has become classical in Armenian culture, most notably his _Book of Prayers_ or _Book of Lamentations_ (often referred to simply as "the Narek").
Gregory is recognized as a Doctor of Church by the Armenian Apostolic Church and, as of a few days ago (23. February 2015), by the Roman Catholic Church, this being the first time that that body has so honored someone who both lived after 1. November 451 and did not belong to a church of the Chalcedonian persuasion. In the Roman Martyrology (which he entered in its revision of 2001) his day of commemoration is 27. February. In the Armenian Apostolic Church his feast falls on 13. October, when he is celebrated jointly with others also renowned for their writings.
The introduction to Thomas J. Samuelian's translation into English of Gregory's _Book of Prayers_ is here:
http://www.stgregoryofnarek.am/intro.php
The translation itself (use the menu at left for the individual poems):
http://www.stgregoryofnarek.am/book.php
Gregory of Narek as depicted in illuminations by Grigor Skevratsi in a later twelfth-century manuscript (1173) from Cilicia containing the oldest witness to the text of the _Book of Prayers_ (Yerevan, Matenadaran MS 1568):
http://armenianstudies.csufresno.edu/arts_of_armenia/images/75.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/q5kgfgk
Detail view of the previous illumination:
http://tinyurl.com/nznhfz4
Best,
John Dillon
(matter from an older post updated and revised)
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